Strong lessons from Lanka crisis, says govt, brings up freebies, fiscal health of some states

There are “very strong” lessons to be learnt from the turmoil in Sri Lanka, including lessons on fiscal prudence, responsible governance and abandoning a culture of freebies, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said at an all-party meeting held on Tuesday to discuss the Lankan crisis.

Sri Lankan army commandos walk past a damaged bus after it was set on fire by demonstrators in Colombo, Sri Lanka. (Reuters)

But a mention of the debt and fiscal condition of states such as Telangana and Andhra Pradesh during a presentation by the government triggered vociferous protests from the Opposition leaders, who asked the government to confine the briefing and the discussion on the crisis in Lanka.

In the meeting, Jaishankar said India, as the immediate neighbour, is naturally worried over the “very serious crisis” in the island-nation. “The reason we took the initiative to request you all to join an all-party meeting was…this is a very serious crisis and what we are seeing in Sri Lanka is in many ways an unprecedented situation… Given the proximity, we naturally worry about the consequences, the spillover it has for us,” he said.